Dazed & Confused

Ok, so I know I'm a bit of a procrastinator and all, but I just can't resist the temptation of putting my annual top-<digit> list up here. Isn't that what blogs are for, after all (apart from stroking ones ego, that is)? So here it is kids, the annual Top-7 Albums of the Year 2007, picked completely arbitrarily by the mighty CEO:

1. Burial Untrue



Damn, what a bloody stir this album's caused. I don't usually go for the hype, but this CD literally blew me off my feet.

The amount of emotion in this album is, in simple terms, fucking devastating. How this kid from Bristol managed to cram so much soul, despair, pain and emptyness and sorrow into this CD I'll never figure out. But it's there and it is heartbreaking. If I'd have to choose the ideal scenery for it, I guess it would be some time when you're going back home from a crazy night out, when streets are empty apart from the occasional taxi and some drunks and you're only half-awake. Pretty much the soundtrack of my 2007.

Funny thing tho- you know how music and memories are often correlated, say you hear Oasis and suddenly you get a flashback of late '90 and the smell of a dusty cassette player? Well, Untrue seems to me to be exactly inversely correlated, say you loose your job, get pissed off your face, then meet a group of nazis in some empty street and suddenly it just dawns on you- whoa, that feels soooo like listening to Untrue. Or you see some poor malnourished african kids in the news and think all poor-kiddos-that's-so-fucking-depressing, and again- you feel like listening to Untrue. Pretty bloody amazing. It's kinda like meeting a midget in a room covered with black'n'white tiles- feels like being in a David Lynch film, doesn't it? I bet you all know what I mean.

2. Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago



And now for something entirely different.

Bon Iver is actually a guy called Justin Vernon, and although both names sound somehow Frenchy, he actually comes from some remote place in deep Wisconsin. And man, can you hear that deep, remote Wisconsin in his music.

It is lovely though. Lovely is probably the word that describes it best. It doesn't really have any weak moments, this album. It's simple, melodic, romantic and folky, sang in a soothing male falsetto that could make the Beach Boys proud. The songs are in themselves the strongest point of Bon Ivers debut, even the cryptic lyrics seem to get lost in all those beautiful melodies. Skinny Love, Creature Fear, and most of all, the amazing closing track re:Stacks are all little masterpieces. Strongly recommended for romantic moments with your loved ones, folks.

3. Iron and Wine The Shepherd's Dog



Another folk album in this year's Top-<insert digit> list. Again, Iron and Wine is actually a little bearded guy called Sam Beam, who lives and records his lovely music in some remote place in deep Texas (sounds familiar?).

I'm really not a folk person. I like to think that I can appreciate good music though, whatever genre it might be. The Shepherd's Dog is just a perfectly arranged, played and sang piece of music. I'd call it an equivalent of a really good meal, flushed with some top-notch alcoholic beverage. All the sounds and instruments that you can hear in those songs are like a bouquet of flavours. One listen is definately NOT enough to fully appreciate it.

It's also a perfect driving album. Especially if you happen to be driving through some remote desert in deep Texas.

4. Radiohead In Rainbows



Because it just is. Just is.

5. Kanye West Graduation / Wu-Tang Clan The 8 Diagrams



Again, I don't usually go for the hype. And man, does anybody attract as much hype these days as the mighty mr West? You could probably wallpaper the Pentagon with all the gossip-press coverage on this fella. And you can bet your ass that most of the songs on this album are gonna be all over MTV and commercial radio stations this year.

Let us not get "blinded by the lights" though (in case you didn't notice, that was a quote from one of the songs on this album- no worries, you're more than likely to hear it within 10 mins of tuning in to just about any radiostation on the planet). I think Kanye is a guy who's street credibility is as solidly established as 50 Cents golden teeth. Still sceptic? Well then let me give you a few samples:

I don't see why I need a stylist
When I shop so much I can speak Italian
***
I never could see why people'll reach a
Fake-ass facade they couldn't keep up
***
so say goodbye to the NAACP award
goodbye to the India.Arie award
they'd rather give me the nigga-please award
but I'll just take the I-got-a-lot-of-cheese award
***
You more like L'eau de Stardee shit,
I'm more of the, trips to Florida
Order the h'orderves, views of the Water
Straight from the page of your favorite author
And the weather so breezy,
man why can't life always be this easy

Ok, so I guess the first one would have been enough. But I just really bloody love this mans lyrics.

Enjoy this without feeling guilty. And damn those hos who can't appreciate this outstanding piece of hip-hop!



The reason why I've put those two together is pretty simple- both being absolutely amazing hip-hop albums they also are as far away from each other stylistically as hip-hop albums can be.

RZA's grooves are as always pretty bare and powerfull, laden with beats so heavy they'll make your headphones vibrate. The rest of the boys deliver some amazing, complex and juicy rap lyrics, as usual. There's nothing decorative about this music, its radio potential is inversely proportional to that of Graduation, and still, it just kicks so much ass.

Guaranteed to make you feel super-gangsta, even if you're just some little white chick from European suburbia.

6. Stars Of The Lid And Their Refinement Of The Decline




This one is pretty unclasifiable. Somewhere between ambient, post-rock, noise and whathaveyou. My kinda thing. Great as background music to deep thinking, pot-smoking, talking about your nightmares. Or to writing your thesis.

7. Ben Westbeech Welcome To The Best Years Of Your Life



One thing this list's been missing (apart from indie, thank you)- disco-dance! Yeah!

Here you got some. The best thing that's happened in dance music since Booka Shade. An album so full of positive energy it should be perscribed by your therapist together with your Zoloft. And one that just screams for remixes. I bet we're gonna hear a lot of them this year. Looking forward to it!

The best thing about this album though is that it pleases the esthetic sense of pretty much everyone I know. It's the first ever album to have solved the problem I'd had with my friends when it comes to playing music. Basically, whatever any one of us would play their stuff on house-parties or weekends out in the country, he or she would be met with so much moaning and whining about how shit that music is and can you please turn this shit off cause it so shit that shit oh my god! that he or she would just give up and play some local radio station. This happened pretty much EVERY SINGLE TIME. So to finally have found a piece of music that all the creatures large and small can just chill out and wag their heads and feet to, is priceless.

Holy fucking motherfucker, you have no idea how bloody tired I am.

Remind me again just why exactly I bother with higher education? I coulda been a simple bartender with no ambition, not a care in the world, not an ulcer in the stomach. Instead I have this- worry-wrinkles, stomach ulcers, repetitive headaches, delusions of grandeur.

And still three quarters of Kalevala (over 1000 pages long) to be read. And a dissertation (not even started yet) to be written. And over 60 books in my curriculum, to be read by mid-april.

Did I mention stomach ulcers? I don't think I emphasised them enough.

STOMACH ULCERS PEOPLE. Stomach ulcers. That's the real cost, the small print on your college degree.

Bleh. Tired.

Wow. This feels strange. Kinda like a deja vu. So much time without practice. Regularity is the cornerstone of good writing, ya'know. Ok, I guess I'll just try to be half-decent.

I know I haven't written in ages, not that anyone cares as the reader audience of this blog have dropped to zero. Thats kinda comforting, since I don't really have anything interesting or funny to say. I think I should just quit with honesty and start one of those things-I-wish-I-did blogs. I could start it like this: "hi, my name is Anna and I'm a compulsive liar. This is my blog". That actually reminds me that I used to be a horrible compulsive liar when I was a kid. You all know that type- that loud and annoying attention-seeker whose dads' occupation changes weekly from astronaut to lion-tamer to mafia boss to policeman. Yeah, that was me. Bloody embarassing, but hey, noone's reading this so why would I give a fuck.

Anyway. Somewhere in the last six few months this blog has celebrated is one-year-anniversary. I wonder if it still counts? Cause zero activity doesn't mean that I don't have a bling-bling exhaustive library of an archive, yes? ;p

Ok, I'll just ignore that. Let us continue as if nothing's happened. Let's just pick it up where we left it. So, for those last few months- well, I guess I can't say I've been great and that my life's been like roses in the spring. Or like riding a pink unicorn. It's been... well... slightly less cool than that. I've been keeping myself busy though. Had so many things on my mind, things I needed to fix. Things like burials, lawyers, court hearings. That kinda stuff. There was a bit of paper work and a bit of phone calls to make, and a few payments to arrange, and a few ways to get money for the payments that needed to be done. Whatever, I did what I had to do and now that it's over, I can finally have some rest and come back to my long-missed blogosphere (don't you just hate that word? I think it sucks balls).

All that stuff I had to do, however boring, gave me some much-needed perspective. There's something really comforting about bureaurocracy, don't you think? (and don't you think I spelled it wrong? it looks kinda weird...) It's just so stable, so monotonous and equal-for-all. It's a sort of space where you feel like the world is just a steady matrix of forms, equations and rules. It feels so safe, even if it bores the hell out of you. It does feel great whenever your life turns a wee bit onto the chaotic side of things.

So now you kind of get the picture. Life goes on, even if everything's turned a little bit darker. Days got a bit shorter, colours a little bit less intense, the air became a little less fresh and a little more suffocating. People became a little bit less pretty. Does it make me sound like I'm depressed? Well, I'm not depressed. Thats just what it feels like to be left alone on a very unsteady ground. I just hope none of yous' is ever going to know that feeling.

Will catch up, don't rush me though.

Ok, so I might not be the brightest person alive. I do not specialise in any field. I can't knit, paint, build bridges, construct airplanes or design wheelchairs. I am pretty useless, and if you think I'm being overly harsh on myself, you couldn't be more wrong.

I am pretty useless.

Just ask my personal butler dad. He's too happy with the fact that at least he doesn't have to wipe my ass to think of all the space and air I'm wasting.

There is one thing I am exceptionally good at, and always have been. Namely- fixing things. For some magical reason, I have hands that heal all things mechanical. I don't reacall a one thing that I would ever fail to bring back to its glory. So much so actually, that a lot of my friends have been calling me to perform my magic, thus saving their hard earned dollar on mechanic/plumber/witchdoctor. In my first-ever job in a lousy London pub kitchen I'd even get a few extra shifts to repair some of the old toasters and fridges. That was also the first time ever I felt like the cheap, illegal immigrant labour that I in fact was...

Anyway, I am not a person who would keep all the good things to herself and I'm more than willing to share my only talent, my Holy Grail, with you people. So here it is, my long-kept-secret secret, the way to fix everything that's fucked up in your life, in four easy steps!

Ok, so there are actually only 3 simple methods that ALWAYS work:

Meth.1a: turn-off/turn on.
This method really is as easy as it sounds. All you need to do is switch off the device, then pretend to be doing something/ scratch your head and repeat "hmmmm that's very interesting", and wait. Note: you don't have to do that if nobody's watching. Then you just sit back, relax, and if you wait long enough you'll find that when you've turned it back on, the thing has miraculously fixed itself. It really is that simple.

Meth. 1b:
A variation of the turn-off/turn-on method. Basically, it requires you to turn the thing off, then take it apart to pieces, put all pieces back in place and turn on. You'll find that the problem has dissappeared i.e. you've fixed it. Yay to you!
Note: this method works especially well with mobiles. Not recommended for repairing cars, computers, nuclear reactors.

Meth. 2: the slap method.
This is a very easy and popular method. It requires you to use your hand/leg/body to slap the device with a quick, confident movement. You might have to repeat it a number of times. Basically, the more times you do it, the better will you fix your problem.
Alternatively, you might decide to shake the thing. The same rule applies here.

Meth. 3: the courtesy method.
This method you might want to use only when nobody's watching. I find it works much better then. All you need to do here, is say please. Inanimate objects are very picky though and they like you to use long, elaborate and polite phrases. The longer and more civilised your speech, the quicker will the thing get fixed. At times hugging and gentle petting can also work miracles, but that, I guess, depends on the machine.

So, there you have it. Now you know all there is to life. Go fix the world and amaze your friends!

I swear that if I ever have kids, I won't let them even touch the Internet until they've turned 18, dechastised, scored a few hangovers and smoked a ton of weed.

It's a jungle out there. And I'm not even refering to chat rooms. I'm talking about the P2P thingys- eMule to be precise, and the way it's trying to sneak hardcore porn into my clean, innocent hard drive.

I thought it was bad when I was searching for BlackStar album- BS being a band (if you might call it that) that was formed solely for the purpose of recording one album- and my search engine litteraly drowned in all the nude-black-babes porn. Nothing compared to the last time I used it though.

I searched Grizzly Bear. Grizzly bear, right? Nothing that would make you shiver with perverse excitement?

Seems that for some, you couldn't be more wrong.

(Now, I've been trying to give you a few examples of titles from the search results list here, but couldn't do it. I don't wanna be responsible for messing up your brains and taking away the rest of your innocence like that. If you really want to know { you DON'T!! } go search it yourselves).

Yuck.

I've noticed it some time ago but only now has it gotten so clear and obvious to me- them Swedes trying to take over the world economics!

It doesn't cease to amaze me just how H&M with it's low prices and constant sales can squeeze the last penny out of my bank account. That's only a tiny drop in the sea though. The conspiracy reaches much further than the wardrobe. Cause the next time you leave the sneaky swedish chain with bags full of bargain clothes you realise you've actually run out of space to put it all long ago.

Which brings you to... IKEA, where else. Aaaawh, IKEA... the million ways of getting the most out of your 10 feet square... I am pretty sure that with the help of that (even-more-)sneaky swedish chain you could fit the whole H&M back catalogue into one tiny room, organized in neat little boxes, drawers and shelves, and still be able to make a cocktail party on the remaining free space.

Which brings us to yet another swedish dominion, the newly opened kitchen kingdom of DUKA, the shop which, despite all my love (and money) for it has helped me see clearly the whole extent of The Conspiracy. And this time it's targeting the world of Jamie-Oliver-wannabes, myself included, and attacking it with an amazing array of funky kitchenware.

I don't know how it happens, but it's impossible for me to leave DUKA empty-handed. I'm not quite sure how it works- it's pretty obvious with the H&M apparel (or apparel in general), but there's nothing obvious about wanting to buy THIS WHISK AND I MEAN THIS WHISK, NO OTHER WHISK, RIGHT NOW. NEED. THIS. WHISK.

See, doesn't it sound downright insane just ever so slightly weird? Cause I shite you not, it made PERFECT SENSE at the time. Just as all the knives, chopping boards and bottle openers. They are impossible to ignore, just as all the visions of sizzling woks, aromatic herbs and fluffy cappucinos that flash before your eyes you look at them.

And of course, my new perfect whisk requires the perfect environment- which brings us, yet again, to IKEA, the only place that lets you realise just how disorganized your kitchen actually is and how only IKEA can save your life, as well as your kitchenware, from anarchy and chaos.

See what I mean?!

PS. I have reasons to believe that China and Bangladesh are in it to, so beware!

I had this really weird dream last night. I was sitting around in my friends flat (as I usually do, lying on her couch, eating her food and driving her mad in general) when a huge bengal tiger jumped out of nowhere right on my chest, ripping it open, eating the lungs and what else there was, and disappearing out of the window. I was shit scared at the start and can't remember actually feeling anything while being fed to the tiger, but I guess I wasn't too perplexed by that after all, cause when the tiger jumped out the window I got up and stiched myself up with a needle and some thread.

After that I was walking aroung with those huge scars stiched up like Frankenstein all over my body and when people would ask me what the hell happened I'd be all like "aaaw, nothing, just some bengal tiger ripped my chest and ate my lungs with some dill and new potatoes".

I suppose it doesn't seem at all weird if you'd consider the fact that I'd smoked 17 cigarettes on a party the night before- after two months of being tobacco-clean.

Damn it!

This week I:

• started nearly every day with looking through People magazine online. Just when I thought I managed to free myself from wanting to know what Kate Moss was wearing and what that crazy Hilton woman has done now. Guess you can't take working-class English mentality out of a person that easily after all.
  

• spent a whole lotta money on Threadless.com- bought this T-shirt and this T-shirt and this hoodie. Don't you just love it when dollar is going down the drain?

• ended a friendship with an american friend after hearing him say that "soccer" (a word that has no right to exist anywhere outside the US of A in the first place) is "not a real sport". I gave him a chance to take that back and call my father a pimp and my mother a whore if he wanted to, but to just take that shameful statement back and never repeat it again in my presence! He didn't.
  
• On his part, he didn't like me being so happy about the dollar going down the drain. Fair enough I guess, but it will never be the same between us anyway.

• celebrated my name day. In case you're wondering what a name day is- it's a day of your patron-saint. I guess it's a catholic thing. My name day is pretty special though, which is understandable if you consider the fact that 9 out of 10 women in Poland are named Anna and every person knows at least 10 to 20 Annas (and is related to at least 5 to 10). Basically, just another excuse for the whole country to get drunk. I guess that's a catholic thing too- as well as carnival, Christmas, Easter, Pentacoste, st Peter and Pauls day, the ascension of Mary, st Johns day, ash Wednesday and so on... you name it. You drink all year round and then get back to being agnostic during the fast.

• spent each day dressed in clothes for a different season (including winter), got sunburned once, complately soaked four times, got bruised with golf-ball sized hail, lost two umbrellas to storm and cought a cold

• went to see Grindhouse and loved it. It seems that the older I get, the more I like violence on screen, yet the less I like it in real life. Curious, no?

• watched Lost season 3 finale and decided never to watch that god damn annoying series again in my life! I say that basically after each episode (and I haven't missed a one so far) and after each episode I picture a worse kind of torture that I'd like to perform on the writers for NEVER LETTING ME FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON! But this time they've gone too far. Nothing makes sense any more.
  

• talkin about tv shows- I decided long ago not to start with any new popular-in-America show that comes up on local tv (partly because the writers of Lost are SO GOD DAMN STUPID! YES THEY ARE! YES. THEY. ARE.) but watched a few episodes of Greys Anatomy -just to know which cute guy my friends kept talking about- and started watching it fairly regularly. I don't think there's ever been a caracter on tv that I would identify so much with as Sandra Ohs' caracter. Finally us cynical heartless bastards been portrayed the way we really are- cool!

• attended a pyjama & vodka party at a friends' house. As usual, everyone else passed out on the floor while I was at the height of my shot-drinking powers. When left alone (among snoring and mumbling bodies scattered around the living room) with nothing to do but to hold on to a glass and a bottle, got bored and watched Michael Jacksons' best videos on DVD. Got a bit sentimental when hearing Man in the mirror and Heal the World. Shed a few tears when I realised how cool Michael once was and that he was now lost to the world. Then realised that I can actually remember him being black, which then led me to realising how old I already was and that life is all filth and decay and that we're all gonna die alone, sob. I'm never drinking vodka again.
  

In case you're wondering how I've been and why such long procrastination- well, let me just say that the stormy season is soooo over and when someone says to me something like: say, why don't we hitch-hike to Budapest? my aswer is always the same. Dude.

So I've been going here and there, not a care in the world, enjoying the sunshine, reliving the Festival and generally just you know, chilling. Reading books. I haven't done that in a while- all because of you, internet! It's really quite refreshing. You should all try it. Books, people. Books.

In the meantime my mailbox got stuffed again- thanks for that folks! I'd like to thank for the two job offers I received as well- unfortunately I decided to stick to that promise I made to myself a long time ago not to ever work for big bloodsucking companies again. Not that my new slacking-on-the-beach lifestyle has anything to do with it.

Now excuse me while I go and refill the ice bucket.

The third day of the festival has seen some lovely sunshine and some absolutely georgeus music. First one up was Indios Bravos, a polish band which none of you will ever hear about anyway, but if you do get a chance to see them live you'll see that they actually kick ass.


Anyway. Next one on the main stage was Bloc Party. I'm not that massive a fan, but still- I quite like them. They played some hits from their debut album- which was great- and not-so-hit tracks from the new one. Still, they were quite entertaining and most of the people enjoyed the bits of sunshine that came out during their gig by lying on the grass with beers and snacks and enjoying the show.

After Bloc Party I decided to check out the Young Talents Stage and immediately I felt sorry for the fact that I missed it on the previous days. It was really quite refreshing. I'm not going to write about the young artists cause these ones you'll definately never hear about, but the whole atmosphere was just so much less official and more laid-back than the main stage. I guess I have the same dillema on every festival I go to- to explore or to keep a good place close to the main stage? Well, now I've learned that glueing yourself to one spot by the main stage is not only boring, but also stupid. Unless the next act is something you really wanna see. Like Bjork, for example.


I didn't keep the spot I fought so hard for and for Bjorks' gig I had to stand a wee bit further away. It didn't ruin the show for me that much though, the sound was much better than on other gigs- I don't know if the sound guy is to blame here, or if Bjork is just THAT great. I'd bet on the latter. The woman was amazing. Both the new tracks and the classic ones were great, but I think she really rocked on the old ones. She even made me like "Anchor song", although I always hated it and skipped it every single time. That's probably thanks to the Icelandic Brass Band (if I'm not mistaken with the name), they were great too. The whole gig was super cool, although I agree that Bjork works much better on smaller venues- there's something in her voice that just screams: smaller venue! Still, the woman kicked balls.

LCD Soundsystem was the last gig this year here in Gdynia. I couldn't believe how shy the leader guy was. He kept hiding behind all those big things on stage (I haven't got a clue what those things are called, I don't even know what they're for for gods' sake)and at times he even played with his back to the audience. The music was great though- another example of an artist who sounds a hell of a lot better live than on a CD. I like the way he improvised on songs (not that I know his songs to well but it shows, somehow), it's so much more interesting than just listening to the stuff you can download hear on the album. It was a-ok but the sadness of the imminent end of the Feastival slightly spoiled the show for me. But that's got nothing to do with music.

As expected, the second day of the festival was indeed sponsored by mud, rain and an occasional storm. It didn't actually rain till about 10 pm, but the weather was menacing so when it finally did fall, most people seemed to be feeling relieved. It wasn't exactly a storm of epic proportions, but it rained all the way through two gigs and turned the whole field into a giant mud bath. It didn't disencourage anyone though. I mean, when was the last time YOU had a chance to wear pink wellies and a bin bag? It was fun, plain and simple, in the most rock-and-roll of ways.

What definately helped to raise the spirits even more was Groove Armada. They played a perfectly decent show and got the whole field dancing and ass a-shakin. I swear I couldn't spot a one person who would seem even slightly uncofortable with those tons of water falling from the sky like if it was some fucking end of days. Most people had their raincoats and wellies in place and it was quite a view to see a crowd of fully-equipped fishermen going mental to disco beats (actually, it made me think of my friend, who once she watched "I know what you did last summer" have been terrified of fishermen in raincoats and wellies ever since. Had she been there it would have been like her biggest nightmare come true- kinda what a bunch of gigantic zombie spiders with HIV would be for me. bleeeah).

Anyway, when it comes to Groove Armada, I think it all boils down to this- there has to be a decent disco act on a festival like this one (previuosly we had Basement Jaxx, Chemicals and so on) and their job is to get people dancing between one bunch of depressing suicidal rockers and another. And that's exactly what they did. They played all their hits (all those songs you know from the radio but never had a clue who plays them) and had a great contact with the audience. What they lacked in originality they more than compensated in energy and ass-kickedness. If you know what I mean.

Up next on the main stage were Beastie Boys. You wouldn't believe how quickly a crowd of high-school kids can turn into an even bigger crowd of people in their thirties. Bear bellies replaced ecstasy-wide eyes as if by some kind of magic. I must admit I was quite sceptical about the BB, mainly because I've always associated them with my older cousins who now have jobs and kids and are boring. The gig was far from boring though. Actually it was quite great. The Boys were in top form and they joked around with each other between the songs. They were probably the most talkative band we've had on so far- and I loved them for it. I don't know about you, but I like it much more when artists make a lot of verbal contact with the audience- even if their broken Polish makes your ears ache.

Oh, and they played "Brass Monkey" and "Sabotage". They're allright.


Last one on was Muse. Now, I have to admit that I've never been crazy about Muse. I've always thought that the singer sounds like he's takin a piss out of Thom Yorke and the music is nothing to boast about either. I still can't honestly say that I like them. But man, do those guys know how to pull off a show. I wonder how they do that, wether they've stolen the secret of a perfect live gig from some hairy dwarf sitting at the end of the rainbow or something, but they sure as hell make other bands look like they've never left the mammas' garage. They got the whole stage complately rearranged, with loads of weird looking lights, neons and other bling-bling crap and made a totally cosmic show with all the bits perfectly in place. I loved every minute of it and can honestly say that from now on I'm never gonna ditch a band until I've seen it live.

I guess that's the best thing about such festivals- that you get a totally eclectic mix of artists and get a chance to appreciate bands you wouldn't ever even consider to download off emule. Not to mention spending your hard earned dollar on their CD. On the other hand though, some bands you've appreciated and liked can be a huge dissapointment- like last years Placebo was for me- and make you dislike them for, like, ever.

It was a good day here at the Opener Festival. I managed to sneak in both my weed and my umbrella (and it's a fucking killer umbrella that makes samurai swords cringe with shame). I managed to keep my feet dry as toast and I didn't even wear wellingtons! What I actually had on were my perfectly regular trainers, produced by one of the sports shoes companies and let me just tell you this- pricey trainers are worth every bloody penny. I don't want to do any product-palcement here but that shoe company that starts with N and ends with E and has I and K in the middle, is fucking amazing. I'm not saying anything more.

Well, we started off pretty damn well. The weather didn't seem too threatening- and after seeing pics from this years Glastonbury I really hoped that we''ll escape the wellies here. The beer stayed the same price as last year (yay!) but again, all you can drink is Heineken (boo). The stage is just as huge and the medium stage got bigger. There was too much to choose from on the medium stage though, so I kinda boycotted it in favour of the main stage and occasional food and drink.


So. I personally started off with Sonic Youth (I was late for the first band). Well, what can I say. They were just plain amazing. They really showed their best. I still can't believe they are all in their forties. Kim Gordon was going mental on the stage, and the rest of the guys just totally pushed their stuff to the limits. They played a cool mixture of old and new, and a few hits that got the whole audience jumpin. They seemed genuinely sorry for the fact that it was their first ever show in Poland, while they've always had so many fans in here (including myself). So they actually played 30 mins longer and saved all their greatest hits for that last half an hour.





However I loved Sonics show, I was complately blown away by The Roots. I don't think it's only because I'm such a massive fan. You can just tell when a band puts all their heart and energy and talent into the show, and that's exactly what they did. They played quite a few songs from their new album, a long mix of greatest hits and a little solo by each member of the band. I particularily loved Questies set, but then again, being such a wacko for him I guess it makes me biased. I wish I could touch his afro. Anyway.

They were simply amazing. They played much longer than expected too, and although I can't be absolutely sure, I can bet that they had the biggest audience so far. When they played "The Seed" (yeah, that "seed" that new-born fuckasses cut out of tracks to make them "clean") the people sang along so loud that you could hardly hear the music. And, what stroke me personally as a sign of real, genuine grandeur, was the way they came down to the audience at the end to shake their hands, do some high-fives and give away pieces of equipement (actually, I think they threw half of their clothes and instruments to the audience- including pieces of drums. I am serious). They showed class. After that show I felt I could die a happy woman right that minute.

The last one tonight on the main stage was Laurent Garnier. He was ok I guess, but I personally find such music to sound so much better in small clubs than big festivals. Then again, I spent his whole show sipping drinks at the back, so what do I know. All the guys up there close to the stage seemed to be having a blast.

Most of the bands from the medium stage I'm not gonna write about, cause none of yous is ever gonna hear about them anyway. I missed Dizzee Rascal, which pissed me off, cause given the choice of course I chose The Roots, who played at the same time at the Main Stage. It's not ok when two good hip-hop acts play at the same time, I guess. The shoulda have had some of the newcomers on then to satisfy the hip-hop audience a bit more, but I think I can live with that. I quite liked The Strike Boys- a really funky, bouncy music, although their playing at 3 am didn't much contribute to raising the spirits of the drunken audience.

More about the festival tomorrow- and this time the report is gonna be sponsored by mud, rain and an occasional storm.

Over and out.